LIJ in Arena Mexico, Niebla off Anniversario, Expolucha tonight

Los Ingobernables de Japan members Naito & BUSHI return to Arena Mexico tonight, teaming with Los Ingobernable’s Rush tonight in the match. EVIL is scheduled to be with them, and there’s a good chance La Bestia del Ring and Terrible will join in the Ingobernables fiesta by the time they’re done. LA Park, Volador, and Diamante Azul are the competition, not the Washington Generals, but it’s probably not going to be their night. CMLL crowd reacted turned out and reacted strongly to Okada a few weeks ago. Naito is likely a bigger star to their fans, given his history with their company, so I expect a similar event tonight. CMLL going with a picture of BUSHI where he’s holding a teddy bear is great.

Most people are going to focus on the main event. Cavernario/Matt Taven is going to be the match of the night. Cavernario is very good and Matt Taven’s been in his best form in CMLL this run. He’ll technically be the tecnico, but that CMLL crowd is going to be behind the favorite caveman, just as they were in the King Phoenix feud. Cavernario might even actually win this time. This should be something people are excited to see but, like everything associated with the 09/14 card, CMLL’s made people less interested.

Definitely less interesting is the semi-main, another Guerreros versus Klan Kaoz match. These have been the same matches since this feud started, just varying on how much extra the Guerreros want to do and the crowd’s willingness to go along. Something probably needs to happen here to get raise interest in this feud. I’m uncertain what they could do.

One problem with pushing Klan Kaoz as a rudo threat to the Guerreros is the Nueva Generacion Dinamitas exist, are in the match just prior, and would’ve been more exciting title challengers. Instead, they continue to drift, facing the Casas team of Negro Casas, Felino & Tiger. That’s two rudo/rudo matches on the show for no particular reason. Marcela, Lluvia, and La Jarochita and Dalys, Reina Isis and Amapola in a trios match that feels very familiar even if it hasn’t happened in exactly that combination. Arkalis makes his Marca debut tonight, teaming with Robin against Coyote & Akuma. Those guys are capable of having an above average opening match.

This show airs at 8:30pm CT on both Marca and Facebook – though there’s no Facebook link up yet, and Marca’s feed is listed as regionblocked at the moment. This seems like a problem, the kind I usually have to figure out myself, so the bad news for you is I’m probably not streaming tonight’s CMLL on YouTube. I’m going to be at a different wrestling show tonight, not watching this show live. (I also, despite my best efforts, have a fantasy football draft tonight.) I may be able to get the stream started remotely, but both the Marca and Facebook feed died on me last week and I’d have to spend the night glued to my phone to make sure it was working. I recommend you use the Facebook feed when it comes out tonight, or just wait until tomorrow and watch it on YouTube.

Mr. Niebla is off the 09/14 CMLL 85th Anniversario show. CMLL quietly replaced his name with Mephisto on the website. That’s as close as they’ll come to acknowledging Niebla’s performance on Tuesday. Mr. Niebla originally seemed to be suspended for about three weeks for every one of these incidents. The length of his suspensions has grown in more recent years, though there’s no consistent pattern to it. I do expect we’ll see Mr. Niebla back in CMLL but I would not bet on a specific time.

ExpoLucha gets into full gear tonight. They’ll be streaming a Future Legend show on Lucha Central tonight at 10pm CT. Penta, Rey Fenix and Rey Mysterio team up – for probably the last time in at least a while – against Juventud Guerrera, Psicosis and Super Crazy. It’ll surely be the last Rey’s last match with Guerrera & Psicosis for a few years, and who knows if any one of them will be wrestling the next time Mysterio leaves WWE, or if there’s even going to be another post-WWE Mysterio. It’s Lucha Central’s first live streaming show, so cross your fingers, but it looks like a good lineup if goes off without a hitch.

The PALL alliance of promotions has their debut show tonight in Arena Naucalpan. The scheduled main is LA Park vs Rayo de Jalisco vs Mr. Niebla Hechicero. Mr. Niebla has been pulled off this show due to his CMLL suspension. Park is attempting to work both Arena Mexico & Arena Naucalpan on the same night, which can be done but might not mean the best for him in either place. The most interesting match to me is the Tortugas Ninjas vs Kamikazes del Aire vs Freelance/Segura/Dragon Bane three-way tiros match. This will definitely turn in YouTube bootlegs and fits the mode of the shows +LuchaTV has been streaming of late.

“AAA vs ELITE 2” takes places tonight in Tijuana, with local promoter EMW running the show. The main event has Psycho Clown, Puma King, Hijo del Fantasma and Electroshock in a four-way. Damian 666 becomes the latest luchador to go from working The Crash to wrestling for rival local group EMW, teaming with Mr. Aguila against Pagano & Joe Lider. This is not a streaming show, but I suspect it’ll turn up on handhelds. I’m interested in seeing if “AAA vs Elite the concept” is a draw; they’ve done a good job of promoting it locally like it’s an important show.

There’s a rumor going around Facebook – seems to have started here – that Scoria, Cuervo, and Faby Apache are leaving AAA and going independent. Random facebook sources are a stretch to trust.

It would be pretty easy to believe Cuervo & Scoria leaving AAA. They haven’t been on a taping since May and have barely shown up on spot shows the last couple months. They do not appear to be in AAA’s plans and it’s probably time for them to look elsewhere. Faby Apache leaving would be a shock. It definitely seemed like there was a falling out between Faby & AAA sometime last year when she was deprioritized on lineups, but she’s been one of AAA’s featured stars of this year, is the current women’s champion, and her father was just added to AAA’s Hall of Fame. Faby’s also listed on a lot of cards going forward, including the show in Colombia, though all AAA cards are subject to change. That includes Sunday’s taping in Monterrey. You shouldn’t believe this is happening based on what’s been announced so far, but it would be meaningful if the already scheduled Shani/Apache singles match suddenly becomes for the Reina de Reinas championship.

A show. Maybe we can hope for Volador/Cavernario again. Sonic gets on shows two weeks in a row, but Camorra & Apocalipsis still exist.

CMLL has now run Rey Cometa/Tiger three times (and they also had a match in Brazil.) That kind of seems low, seeing as they’ve been stuck in the same place forever. Maybe not the exact same place: Rey Cometa won in 2013 and Rey Cometa won in 2015. Tiger’s got to get this done this year or he may not get another shot until 2021.

Terrible has returned from his back injury after four weeks off. It’s convivent he was cleared to return just as a spot for a main event rudo opened up with Mr. Niebla being gone. Terrible’s probably not replacing Niebla here, he’s taking back the spot Cavernario had, so maybe Cavernario is taking the Niebla spot in Mexico City.

Main event program pointed towards a Rush/Caristico match. It wouldn’t be the greatest idea to have Rush work singles matches before CMLL’s biggest show of the year, but it is CMLL so it could still happen.